EDNote: for the record (see Mo Ibrahim's original post), Tatyana
from Eugene Onegin was not 13, but at least 18 at the time
of her first acquaintance with Eugene. It's also worth noting that
in "A Nursery Tale" the term "devochka" (little girl) occurs only in
relation to the 14-year-old; one other victim is called "devushka"
(post-adolescent girl/young woman); and the rest apparently are
referred to as "zhenschina" (woman) or "dama" (lady). -SB
Re: [NABOKV-L] Was Nabokov a Hebephile\Ephebophile?.eml
Subject:
Re: [NABOKV-L] Was Nabokov a Hebephile\Ephebophile?
From:
Stadlen <stadlen@aol.com>
Date:
9/7/2015 12:25 PM
To:
Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
What I have always found disturbing about this is that Nabokov lied
about it, saying that he had to imagine someone utterly different
from himself. I do not mean that he acted upon his fantasies or
desires - I simply don't know - but he seems to have falsely stated
that these were not even his own desires, or even fantasies, except
insofar as he fantasised them as desires or fantasies of other men,
his fantasised narrators. Such dishonesty, if this is what it was,
is difficult to respect, as it disrespects his readers. He could
have refused interviews, like Beckett. His high moral tone, rebuking
Tynan for inviting a piece that would have "titillated" Nabokov
himself, seems, in the light of this, a sham: righteousness as
filthy rags.
Anthony Stadlen